Oh it's that most wonderful time of the year again, and I'm not talking about Christmas . Baseball in October !!!! And for the 2nd straight year, the Dodgers find themselves champions of the NL WEST, this time doing it with 95 wins, their most regular season victories since 1985. Ironic because in 1985 it was the Cardinals who would face off against the Dodgers in the NLCS. It was the first time that the LCS had gone to a best of 7 format since it's inception in 1969 when it was best of 5. The Dodgers took the first 2 games of the series at Dodger Stadium as Fernando Valenzuela and Orel Hershiser shut down the speedy Cardinal attack that featured Ozzie Smith, Willie McGee, and 1985's NL Rookie of the Year Vince Coleman, who had stolen 110 bases that season. But the next 3 games would be at Busch Stadium, and the Red Birds would bounce back to win games 3 and 4 to tie the series at 2. However, prior to Game 4, Vince Coleman would be taken out of the series by of all things the fields automatic tarp roller. ( If you're a Cards fan reading this, you can probably tell the story better than me....) So, now with the series tied at 2 games a piece, the winner of game 5 would take a 3 games to 2 lead back to L.A. . With Fernando pitching that afternoon, we here in L.A. were confident we would be coming back with the lead, and as school let out in the 7th inning ( I was in 6th grade at the time, it was an afternoon game, and yeah, our teacher and principal let our class watch the game...... ) I raced home in my bike so I could catch the end of this game. OK, Day 1 of what would be TWO OF THE DARKEST DAYS OF MY LIFE AS A BASEBALL FAN, would occur. Allright, I will do my best to recount my memories without getting to bent out of shape, so here goes, Game 5, bottom of the 9th, one out, and Ozzie Smith up for the Red Birds hitting against Dodger reliever Tom Niedenfuer. Smith, batting from the left side of the plate, had never homered from this side in his career, until............And to this day, I am probably one of the few minority who still does not care to here these words " GO CRAZY FOLKS !!!! ". Cardinals 3 Dodgers 2. Cards lead series 3 games to 2 . ( That would rank as old Busch Stadium's #1 all time moment) OK, now the series heads back here to L.A. for game 6. And since the home team had won each game to this point, we figured we'll win it in 7. Well, things started out great for the Blue, as they jumped out to a 4-1 lead. But the Cards jumped on Hershiser in the 7th, tying the game at 4. Dodger outfielder Mike Marshall hit a solo home run in the 8th to give us a 5-2 lead heading to the 9th. Then, the top of the ninth....Day 2 of , AGAIN, would be TWO OF THE DARKEST DAYS OF MY LIFE AS A BASEBALL FAN. With Tom Niedenfuer on the mound again for the Blue, runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 out in the top of the 9th and the Dodgers clinging to a 5-4 lead, one out from forcing a deciding 7th game and Jack Clark due up next, and Andy Van Slyke on deck, Lasorda decides to pitch to Clark. Do I really have to describe what happened on the first pitch ? And to this day, every Dodger fan who was around still asks...." Why did you pitch to Jack Clark ? " The Cards would go on to the WS, eventually losing to the Royals in 7 games. But no matter, I cried like a baby that afternoon ( I was 11 at the time, OK !!! You know how it is, nothing else is important in your life than baseball and your team winning the WS....) I recently talked to a Cards fan at a restaurant here recently and he had told me that he had just graduated college in '85, moved out here to L.A., and that October 14 1985 was the happiest day of his life as a baseball fan. His glee and my disdain , ( Yeah, I can laugh at this now ) were classic. Though I did have a great comeback when I quipped " You werent so happy 10 days later, were you....Does the name Don Dekinger ring a bell ? ) It's amazing, because when you mention the name Don Dekinger to a Cards fan, even to those who were born after 1985, to this day, and it's amazing how their feathers ( pun intended ) are still rankled.

Anyways, as we look forward to the LDS, I really think that the Dodgers and Cardinals are going to play a close series. Many expect the Cards to win, largely because of their dynamic 1-2 tandem of Carpenter and Wainright, and we havent even brought up Phat Albert either. Though the Dodgers starters may not be as dominant, if they keep the games close and make it a battle of the bullpens, then the Blue has a chance. Both teams struggled towards the end of the season and as for the Dodgers, this is the time that we need our heart of the lineup, Kemp, Ethier, and Manny ( Remember him ?) to produce big time. It should be a great series. Drei's Pick.....DODGERS IN 5.